Sheet-pile driver.



No. 796,703. PATBNTED AUG. 8, 1905.

A. B. CLARK. SHEET PILE DRIVER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10.71902.

rucwfoz ABLLAHK:

- the piston.

UNITED sTATns rATnnT OFFICE.

AMASA B. CLARK, OF NEW YORK,l N. Y.

SHEET-PILE DRlVEH.

Specification of yLetters Patent.

Application filed June 1U, 1902. Seal No. 110,988.

. To full whom it may concern.-

Be it know that I, AMASA B. (mann, e citizen of the United States, residing in the horough of Manhattan, in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new und Improved SlieetPile Driver, of which the foilwing is a speciiication.

My invention concerns apparatus for drivf the upper end of the vslve-box at Bi.

ing piles, and relates more particularly; to

portable apparatus of few parts and simple construction for quickly and electively sinhing sheet-piling with the minimum arnouutof skilland attention on thi part of the operator. l

To this end the invention involves the ern rangement and disposition of the several g parts whereby the machine maybe mede of I oomperstireh light construction without secriice to the efficiency of its action or its dnrahility, and whereby also certain other adrantages herein below referred to sre'secured,

'lheinrention also involves various details l of construction whereby the machine is free from lateral projections on three of its sides, and whereby brooming ol the pile and other objectionsl are obvieted.

Reference is made to the accompanying i 6, an elevation, and F ig. 7 a detail, respec tively, of the followenhlooh.

Eimiler reference-letters refer throughout to identical parts in the several figures.

,Reference A designates the cylinder', and Il the vulve-box. of e reciprocatingdisent-acting i engine, which is adapted. when fluid-pressure is applied thereto to cause a rapidreciproestion of the piston-rod H in the usual manner. The construction or' the engine'is substantially the same as that of the ordinary rock-drill engine, and as my invention is not involved therein e detailed description oi' the same is not here necessary.V It is necessary, however,

tn rernove all objectionable proiections which :night interfere with the use of the apparatus opens downwardlyrfroxn the lower end of the valve-box at B', and the exhaust-passage is led in n similar manner to open upwardly from This construction of valve-boxv with the intake and exhaust passages extending in the direction of the axis of the cylinder is not new in the err14 and for this reason will notV require further explanation or illustration. For the sake of simplicity in the drawings I have purposely omittedl therefrom the obviously necessary sdjnncts to en engine of this type, though it is of course to he understood that the engine is supplied with suitable Stowe-oeils., oil-cups, &c.

The flexible piping or hose supplying the fluid-pressure to the engine is attached to the intzrkeport at .the bottom of the valve-box in any approved manner, the advantage of this arrangement being that while the coupling l: of the hose to the valve-box is conveniently out of the way there is also a certain amount of slack hose hanging; below the valve-box which permits an unhindered movement of the machine from pile to pile without relaying: or straining the hose for each movement. A short length of flexible piping is usually connected to the exhaust-passage.

Theengine-eylinder is embraced by side rods ou Vend top head-plates C C, having top heed-springs b l' between themv for the purpose of absorbing' vibration and cushioning E head-plete.

the jar or the cylinder upon the upward Inovement ol' the piston. In order to provideconvenient holding end transporting means for the appeler-us, a shank D of a double-'grip handle is rigidly secured to the upper top preferably integral therewith is e hand-grip D, and near the foot of the shank at right angles thereto is a second hsnd-gripDwhich may also be in Vone piece with the shank.

Secured to the cylinder of the engine by ineens of a lug and socket and bolts, as indieeted in the drawings, and at e point preferably helow the valve-hex Bis a. rigid member or shsnl: E` which is preferably of one piece.

but may be' made of several pieces rigidly i joined together and extends in' s general downwerd direction and terminates inra. tubular compartment F, affording a. vg'uidewey for the illuminer H' on the end of pistoh-6d H, its to steve that in the furtherance of my design l presently to he described. Opposite sides of l the compartment or gnideway F are out away, in corners and narrow spaces I prefer to ,use i n style ol valve-hex in which the intake-.port

well as a holder for the follower-blockJ,

so es to form u forli or saddle with members of a plank oisheet pile.

Fig. is shown the outline of a sheetfpile iu- Pantd aug. s, 1905.

0n the endfof the shank I) and dicating the position of the fork thereon and also clearly illustrating that the width of the pile which may be driven by my machine is not limited in any way by this construction. The shape of the guideway F is preferably rectangular in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 5, and the distance between the fork members F' F' is sufiicient to`allow it to straddle piles of ordinary thickness. It is a common source of annoyance when driving sheet-piling that the end of the pile has a tendency to splinter oif under the impact of the hammer, thereby hindering the operation oi' driving and ultimately ruining the pile. 'lo prevent this brooming of the pile, I interpose between its end and the hammer a followerblock J of comparatively light weight, whichis contained within the guideway Fand is capable of limited vertical movement therein. One or more inwardly-projecting lugs f fare formed in the inside of the guidewayfnear its top, and these may be of the nature of ears'east integral with the guideway or studs screwed into tapped holes therein to furnish stops to limit the upward movement of the block when the hammer-head H' is not engaging it. A spring-latch L, pivoted between lugs in the front'A outside face of the guideway F, extends through the said face and normally engages a notch J in the block J to hold the same within the tubular guideway. By withdrawing the latch L it is obvious that the block may be removed. The distance between the lugs f ,f' and the engaging end of the latch is sufiicient to give considerable vertical play to the block and at the same time to prevent it from rising to a point within the guideway where it would be struck by the" the latter had acquired the hammer before momentum necessary for an effective blow. The bottom faceof the follower-block J, which is in contact with the end of the pile, is curved and provided withaspurS, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and its upper face isV provided with an inlaid block of hardwood K or other suitable material, adapted to protect both follower and hammer and also to deaden the noise.

In addition to handle D D2 an auxiliary handle G is rigidly secured to the shank E, preferably as indicated in the drawings, and a foot-step P is also provided, which may be cast integral with or bolted to the fork F, and

as a ,central perforation to give clearance to the latch L. as indicated in Fig. 5. The fork F and shank E are cast in one piece, and the latter is curved or staggered, so that a part of it (indicated by E?) will be adjacent to and form a wayfor the hammer H'. The piston of the engine is indicated by M in Fig. 3, and is made' in one piece with piston-rod H and hammer-head H'. The latter conforms to the rectangular'shape ot' the guideway F and `has sliding engagement on one side with the vertical shank-section E, as well as with the wallof the guideway F. It is also provided with vertical channels /L /1 to Igiveclcarance tothe lugsff. The pistonrod H passes through the split stuffing-box I. The integral construction of hammer-head, piston-rod, and piston involves especial advantage in that the use of chucks likely to shake loose is entirely obviated.

From the above description of the construction the operation of the apparatus will be obvious to those skilled inthe art. rhen the pile has been placed in position and the apparatus brought to play against its end, an attendant may stand on the footstep P and so add his weight to that of the machine, which is desirable though not necessary. A

i rapid successeo'n of blows of comparatively lshort stroke isdelivered to the follower-block, which, it will be remembered, rests upon the end of the pile, and the fork which holds the block and straddles the pile aided by the spur S preserves this relation, so that the sinking of the pile is constant andr uninterrupted. The curved bottom face of the follower serves to compress the fibers of the pile if it is of wood, renderingthe end denser and less liable to broom. Furthermore, 1 have found thatthe rapid reciprocation of the hammer upon the pile end sets up aseries of composite vibrations throughout the length of the pile, which results in a constant repulsion of the particles ot soil immediately surrounding the pile and keeps them out of intimate frictional contact therewith. The particlesof the soil are kept loose and in constant motion and they are in actual contact with the surface ofthe pile during a part only of the time of its descent. The resistance encountered and the time for descent are correspondingly less for the pile so vibrated than if the soil particles are allowed to come to a s tate of rest, pressing against the pile between each stroke of the hammer, as occurs in the case of gravitydriven piles, in which the time of failing as well as of lifting of the hammer intervenes between the strokes. l

It will be noticed that the apparatus above described is specially intended to utilize the reduction ofy resistance just explained, and that at the same time it is portable, of few parts, and easily manipulated. In all priorde-` vices of this kind of which I am aware the hammers or follower-blocks, or both, have been made heavy in comparison with the engine and pile, and have not been capable of working at speeds high enough to securethe constant vibration oi' the soil surrounding it.

That I claim is 1. A portable piledriver comprising a direct-acting reciprocating engine, a rigid supporting-shank secured thereto and means rigidly connected to the free end of said rigid shank for receiving the end of a pile.

2. A portable pile-driver comprising a reciprocating engine, a rigid supporting-shank secured et one ond theretm and forli members rigid with the free ends of seid rigid shank ndepted to strnddle thc'enrl of e pile sind snpport the engine thereon.

3. Ajportable pile-drive r comprising en cngine and a hammer reciprocnted therehy, a rigid supporting-shank forseid engineser-,nred at one end thereto and formed at its free end 1with pileengaging means rigid with seid enginerin combination with a follower-block mounted on said shank in the path of the hammer-and having direct contact with the end of thei'pile. 4

4; In a sheet-pile driver, an engine and a hammer reciprocated thereby, ashank secured to the engine, forming a. guide for said hammer and supporting thc weight of the engine, said shank' being constructed to engage with the end of a pile, and a follower-block resting on the end of the pile in the path of seid hammer," and cushioning material between seid block and the hammer, substantially Vas de scribed.

'5. A portable sheehpile driver comprising a direct-acting engine adapted to be run at high speed and a hein mer reciprocated thereby, a shank secured to seid engine for supporting the same and resting directly upon the end of a pile, and nfollower-.block of comparatively light weight in the path of said hammer adapted also to rest on the end of the pile, substantielly as described.

6. In s sheet-pile driver, a reciprocating hammer and a shank comprising a giideway for said hammer, a follower-block having e curved qnder face mounted for limited vertical movement within the guideway, and means for' operating said hammer at high speed, substantially as described.

7. Ina pile-driver, a high-speed direct-acting engine and piston therefor, a rigid shsnk secured to the engine for supporting the seme.

and provided with pile-engaging means rigid with seid engine, and a hammer recipreceted at high speed by said piston to setup continual vibrations in the pile during its descent. 8. The combination with ereeiprocating cngine havin e cylinder and piston, of a staggered shlu secured to the side of the cylinder and extended from said cylinder to a pnsition to form a guidewagg, fork members on said guidewny, and n, hammer connected with said piston to reciprocate along the-guidewey, substantially as described. Y

. The combination of a high-speed recipmeeting engine having a cylinder and piston, of a shank secured to and extending longitudinally from said cylinder, a. guidewny rigid with the end of the shank and fork members extended from the guidewey, a hammer conv nec-ted with said pistou and a follower-block within the guideway and in the path of the hammer adapted to transmit the energy of the hammer to a, pile, substantially as'described.

10. The combination in e sheet-pile driver of a. reciprocating hammer end means to actuate the same, of a gnideway for the hammer, e removable followenhloek within the guidewey and in the path of the hammer, confining means for 'the block so arranged as to permit of a limited vertical movement of seid block. and fork members on said gnideway, adapted to hold a pile in engngcmentwith the followerhlock, substantially as described.

.11. The combination in a sheet-pile driver of a reciprocating hammer and means to actuate the same, of a gudcway for the hammer, and a removable follower-block within the gnidcway and in the path of the hammer, said folloWcnblock having a notch in one of its lox'ver edges, confining means for said followerhloch comprising lugs on the gnideway above the block and e spring-actuated'letch pivoted on the outside of the guideway and extending through the same into engagement with the notch in follower-block, substantially es dcscribed.

12, The combination in a sheet-pile driver of e reciprocating hammer, a guideway for the same and means to actuete the hammer, of a removable follower-block within the guide- Way, having an inlaid block of Wood on its upper su rface, and ncurved undersurface, provided with a spur, means on the guide'wey to limit the vertical movement of the followerblock and suitable means to hold the pile-d river in engagement with a pile, substantially as described.

13. In e sheet-pile driver, e reciprocating hammer, a guideway for the same and an engine to ectnate the hammer, in combination with a removable follower-block Within the gnideway, means on the gnidewav for limiting the movement'of the follower-block,fork members on the guidewny adapted to straddle a pile, and n doublegrip handle on the engine, substantially as described.

14. In a sheetpile driver a reciprocating hammer, a guideway therefor and an engine to actuate the hammer, side rods and a top heed-plate for the engine, adonhle-grip handle secured to the top head-plate, in combination with e removable follower block confined within the g'nideway, means on the guideway for limiting the vmovement of the follower block therein, fork members on the guidew y adapted to streddle a pile, substantially as, escribed.

15. In e sheet-pile driver a reciprocating hammer, an engine to actuate the same provided with a longitudinelly-extending handle, and having its intake and`exhaust passages ex tending'in the direction of the reciprocation of the hammer, in combination with e shank secured to and extended from the cylinder to form a guideway for the hammer, fork mem-` 'bers thereon, an auxiliary handle secured to the front of seid shank and a foot-step also on the front face of the shank, substantially as described.

&

16. In a sheet-pile driver, 'a reciprocating hammer, an engine to actuate thesame, having its intake and exhaust passages extending in the direction of the reciprocation of the ham-v mer, a double-grip handle secured to the en gine,'comprisi`ng a shank with a hand-grip at its end and a hand-grip secured at right angles to said shank; in combination with a shank .sccured to and extended 'longitudinally from the engine, a guideway on said shank to inclose and guide the hammer, afollower-block confined Wthin the guideway, fork members on the gnideway, and an auxiliary hand-grip and foot-|est on the said shank, substantially as described.

17. In a portable piledriver, a Huid-pressure engine and a hammer reciprocated thereby, in combination with a flexible piping for supplying motive {'luid to said engine and a connection between said engine and piping opening into the latter in the direction of the" nelly-extend ingishanl secured to the engine on the same side as the valve-box and holding means projecting laterallyfrom the pile-driver likewise on the same side as the valve-box.

In testimony whereof I havehereunto signed my neme, in the presence of two sbseribing witnesses, this 4th day of June, 1902.

- AMAS-A BfoLAR'K. Witnesses: u f H.l G. KIMBALI.,

G. A. 'IAn'pm 

